The Dreaded Liberal Media

Next time you hear folks trot out the tired old "librul media" garbage, remember the Gov. Mark Sanford story.

National media blitzed Gov. Mark Sanford’s staff, offering big ratings and, possibly, a sympathetic venue in an effort to land the first interview with the governor after his six-day trip to Argentina.

In addition, a blogger and state leaders reached out to Sanford’s office to try to coordinate a way to “push back” on the growing mystery surrounding Sanford’s absence.

The behind-the-scenes maneuvering is detailed in e-mails released by the governor’s office this week in response to The State’s request under the freedom of information act.

The e-mails show some outlets promised Sanford “friendly ground,” while others objected to early reports that questioned his disappearance.

“If you all want to speak on this publicly, you’re welcome to Washington Times Radio,” wrote staffer Joseph Deoudes to Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer on June 23. “You know that you will be on friendly ground here!”

It's amazing, but in no way surprising, the number of outlets of our "librul media" that crawled on their hands and knees, offering Sanford's office the chance to spin their side of the story.

And they did. Remember the lies that Sanford was hiking along the Appalachian Trail? Ahh, but it gets worse:

“The Governor can have the floor for 10 minutes and reach over a million people on the show tomorrow!!” wrote WACH morning anchor Tim Miller on June 23. “I’ve already have calls from others who want to bash. ... I’m not doing that!”

Miller, a former chairman of the Lexington County Republican Party, said his channel’s three-hour morning show provided Sanford an open mike, of sorts, to explain himself.

“We’re not taking sides,” Miller said. “We’d ask some questions. There would be no hidden agenda.”

Another reporter, Griff Jenkins of Fox News, invited Sanford on to set the record straight.

“Having known the Governor for years and even worked with him when he would host radio shows for me,” Jenkins wrote to Sawyer on June 23, “I find the story and the media frenzy surrounding it to be absolutely ridiculous!”

Of coooooourse it was ridiculous. FOX News was going to "set the story straight", and later did that day...playing the whole Appalachian Trail lie to America verbatim from Sanford's office of spin.

And of course the Winger bloggers wanted to help Sanford's office kill the whole thing:

“If he wants something more personal for the blog to push back, I’m happy to help,” wrote Erick Erickson, a writer for RedState.com. On June 23, Erickson ripped “media speculation” about Sanford’s whereabouts.

“I wasn’t trying to be a reporter. I wanted to curtail the story,” Erickson said by e-mail. “Well that didn’t work.”

Nice. And don't think it was just bloggers like Erickson trying to bury criticism of the obvious lie out of Sanford's office.

ABC News White House reporter Jake Tapper e-mailed Sawyer twice on June 23, both to note coverage of competitor NBC.

With a subject line of “NBC spot was slimy,” Tapper e-mailed Sawyer a “Today” show transcript of Sanford coverage, calling it “insulting.” Later, Tapper forwarded Sawyer a Twitter post by “Meet The Press” host David Gregory.

Jeff Schneider, a vice president at ABC News, said Tapper was “carrying some water for producers who knew he had a relationship with the governor’s office.”

Of course he was. That's the way this game works. Our "Obama obsessed" media may be, well, obsessed, but it's not obsessed with helping the President or his party. After all, the other side needs the most help, and will of course, be far more grateful in return...

Just another day in the Village.